


Hanging By a Moment

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-02-13
Updated: 2002-02-13
Packaged: 2019-05-30 17:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15101582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Josh/Donna- Someone is doing too much thinking...





	Hanging By a Moment

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Title: Hanging By a Moment  
Author: Michelle H.  
Category: General, J/D  
Rating: PG  
Spoilers: Anything through the Stackhouse Filibuster  
Disclaimer: Characters, song, etc. don't belong to me. Making no  
profit. You get the idea.  
Thanks: Thanks to Laurel. As always. :)  
Notes: Song is by Lifehouse. This is a stand alone story, not related  
to Our Two Consciences or Puzzles or anything else.

  


Desperate for changing  
Starving for truth  
I'm closer to where I started  
I'm chasing after you 

I'm pretty sure that Joey Lucas was out of her mind when she'd said that  
Donna liked me. Lately it seems like Donna's doing a great job at work,  
but taking no particular interest in me other than to mock my obsession  
with Mike Piazza. 

Of course we'll never know if he would have called me dude, Stackhouse's  
filibuster ruined my weekend plans. That's why I'm sitting here on  
Saturday night, going over some files and listening to the radio on my  
bookshelf. 

I have absolutely no life. 

I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you 

So anyway, how can Joey Lucas just march on in here and make some sort  
of announcement like that when she doesn't even know Donna very well.  
Hell, she doesn't even know me very well. The nerve of that woman,  
giving me false information. It's made me paranoid for weeks now. 

I've been watching Donna's every move for the last month, and nothing's  
changed at all. If nothing else, she seems like she's growing away from  
me, standing in my way, ignoring me at the big block of cheese meeting.  
I can't tell if she's doing shit just to piss me off, like she used to,  
or if she's grown out of our childish games. 

Joey Lucas has no clue. 

Forgetting all I'm lacking  
Completely incomplete  
I'll take your invitation  
You take all of me now 

I was totally impressed that Donna figured out the whole key to the  
Stackhouse situation. Especially after I'd gone to the hill, fallen on  
my ass, and gotten bupkiss. 

Who knew, almost three years ago, that Donna would come so far so fast?  
I really thought she wouldn't last more than a month, tops. She was so  
young then, so green. Just a college dropout from Wisconsin, with some  
crummy asshole boyfriend who refused to let her see her potential. 

She's grown up right before my eyes�-from small town girl to confident  
woman. And don't think I haven't noticed. 

I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you 

So what if Joey was right? I'm not saying she is, I'm just saying what  
would I do if it were true? God. I really don't let myself think  
things like that very often. I don't like to indulge those particular  
fantasies, because�-face it. I'm thirteen years older than she is. I'm  
no spring chicken, although I have been working out lately. Of course,  
that's not to say that we could have a relationship anyway, because the  
press would have a field day. 

But what if Joey was right? 

I mean, Donna's beautiful, and smart, and we fit together so well. It's  
taken my three years, but I'm pretty smitten. And I know her better  
than anyone I've ever known�-and no one knows me better. Not even Sam.  
Or Leo. 

God. When did that happen? 

I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and I question where to go  
And I don't know what I'm tapping into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you 

We'd have no time for a relationship anyway. That's just silly. I  
mean, this job is my life. I am the third most important man in the  
United States. I have no time for anything but this. There will be  
plenty of time for life after the White House. 

Okay, so I'm not sure about that. I'll probably have some other  
important job after this one. And who knows where Donna will be. She  
might go back to Wisconsin, get married, have some kids, milk some cows,  
whatever. 

No, she can't. 

I'm not saying she can't milk cows, but I really don't want her having a  
life without me. 

I'm dialing the phone. I can't stop myself because I'm on some sort of  
weird disconnected high; I'm just watching my hand move. I have no idea  
what I'm going to say, we'll just have another weird, disjointed  
conversation about nothing that's really about everything. Like why is  
the sky blue. The sky is blue for some scientific reason, but the sky  
is blue because the creator made it that way. I'm calling Donna because  
I need someone to talk to, but I'm calling Donna because I need Donna. 

There's no answer at her place. Probably out with some gomer again.  
Some asshole that doesn't deserve her and yet gets what I want. 

Okay, I am such a loser. 

There's nothing else to lose  
There's nothing else to find  
There's nothing in the world  
That can change my mind  
There is nothing else  
There is nothing else  
There is nothing else 

There is nothing else. There's me. There's Donna. There's me.  
There's Donna. 

There's a rap on the doorframe. 

There's Donna. 

"Hey," she says. "I figured you could use some food," she says. She  
puts some fragrant paper sacks down on my desk. 

"I�-I just called your place," I tell her. "I figured you were out with  
some guy," I say. 

She smiles. "Who?" 

"Whom," I say. 

She frowns at me. "Whom, Josh. Whom?" 

I shrug. 

Donna smiles at me again. "There is nothing else, Josh," she says. 

There is nothing else. 

There is nothing else. 

There is nothing else. 

"I'm sure there could be, if you wanted there to be," I say. What the  
hell am I talking about? I think we're about to have a blue-sky  
discussion, but hell if I know. 

Donna looks everywhere but in my eyes. "No," she says. 

"How do you know if you don't try?" 

"I've been trying," she says. 

"What is he, stupid," I ask. 

She laughs. "No," she says. "Just�-distracted." 

"What, is there only one guy in the world," I ask her. I've suddenly  
become very intrigued by the wails on my corduroys. 

"Yeah," she says simply. 

Well, that pretty much does it. Joey Lucas was wrong. 

What the hell do I do now? I finally decide to do something and  
now�-denied. 

Whoever he is, he's a lucky guy. The only guy in the world, as far as  
Donna's concerned. 

"He's lucky, Donna," I tell her. 

She lowers her head, and smiles a little. 

Desperate for changing  
Starving for truth  
I'm closer to where I started  
I'm chasing after you 

I'm in love with the woman across my desk, I'm the third most powerful  
man in the United States, and I'm staring at Donna like I'm an acne  
ridden teenager with a crush on the head cheerleader. 

Wait a minute. 

There is nothing else? 

"What are you staring at," Donna asks. 

"There is nothing else?" Okay, I think I'd like to solve the puzzle,  
Pat. 

"Nothing else," she says. 

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" 

She rolls her eyes. "That depends on what you think I'm saying." 

"Would you define that last remark as misdirection?" 

"You know, you're not a real lawyer," she says. 

I can feel a smile coming on. "What are you saying, Donna?" 

She shrugs. "I'm here," she says. "I've always been here." 

"I've always been-�distracted," I whisper. 

She nods, then, and closes her eyes, like she doesn't want to see my  
reaction to this news. I don't know why she wouldn't want to see my  
reaction, I'm grinning like an idiot. 

I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you 

"Donna," I whisper. "Donnatella," I say. I try to take her hands but  
they're shaking so hard I can barely clutch them. "Please, open your  
eyes." 

She bites her lower lip, and her eyes flutter open, slowly, carefully,  
and she blinks a few times. She takes in my idiotic grin and smiles a  
little bit too. I squeeze her hands and kiss each of her fingers. 

"You're not�" she starts, then stops. She shrugs. "This is�okay with  
you?" 

I smile at her. "Yeah," I say. "Is it okay with you?" 

There it is. There's the grin. That high-volt electric grin that I've  
grown to love so much. "Yeah," she whispers. 

"Donna," I whisper, mere inches from her lips. "I think I love you," I  
tell her. 

She smiles at me again. "Oh yeah?" 

"There is nothing else," I whisper. 

She makes this tiny little sound in her throat and closes the gap  
between our lips, soft and sweet and tender. 

Like she is. 

I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and I question where to go  
And I don't know what I'm tapping into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you 

  


End file.
